42 ANIMALS OF THE 



wounded by men and large house-dogs ; he is 

 secured in traps ; he is poisoned by carcasses pre- 

 pared and placed for that purpose, and is caught 

 in pit-falls. " Gesner tells us of a friar, a wo- 

 man, and a wolf, being taken in one of these, all 

 in the same night. The woman lost her senses 

 with the fright, the friar his reputation, and the 

 wolf his life.'* All these disasters, however, do 

 not prevent this animal's multiplying in great 

 numbers, particularly in countries where the 

 woods are plenty. France, Spain, and Italy, are 

 greatly infested with them ; but England, Ire- 

 land, and Scotland, are happily set free. 



King Edgar is said to be the first who attempt- 

 ed to rid this kingdom of such disagreeable in- 

 mates, by commuting the punishment for certain 

 crimes into the acceptance of a number of wolves* 

 tongues from each criminal.* However, some 

 centuries after, these animals were again increas- 

 ed to such a degree, as to become the object of 

 royal attention ; accordingly Edward the First 

 issued out his mandate to one Peter Corbet to 

 superintend and assist in the destruction of them. 

 They are said to have infested Ireland long after 

 they were extirpated in England ; however, the 

 oldest men in that country remember nothing of 

 these animals, and it is probable that there have 

 been none there for more than a century past. 

 Scotland also is totally free. 



The colour of this animal differs according to 

 the different climates where it is bred, and often 



* British Zoology, p. 62. 



